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Feb 9, 2013

Can not get door open...climbing out window to clear the way. National Guard is in my city to help all the stuck PLOWS!!! out of the snow....Hope everyone is safe. I will be shoveling for the next two days because the snow thrower is not going to cut it. I had an old snow blower fixed but have not needed it since then so I am really hoping that will start up. UGGGG

Feb 8, 2013

Oh yeah I live in the north east and sugar cane is just not right for up here. But I would love to be able to have a sugar plant in my garden....well WOW I can.

The good old fashion sugar beet! Surprisingly it is the same sugar we get from sugar cane!

Once upon a time pre commercial take over, everyone grew their own sugar.

You plant the sugar beets in the early spring and just as they look...they grow like carrots do. You harvest them in the fall.

How to make the sugar(keep in mind this does take time)

Clean your beets really good..and slice them small bits or you can even shred them.

Put them in a pan and add water (just enough to cover them)

Cook over medium heat till tender. (think mash potato tender)

Once tender strain ( cheese cloth or towel are best because you can squeeze more of the water out of the beets, but you can use a regular strainer)

Save this sugar water!!(You can stop right here and ferment the water for Rum!)

Left over beets you can eat or can.

Next step is to simmer the sugar water over a low to medium heat till it turns to a brown molasses substance.....Make sure to stir frequently during this process! Once it is at this molasses stage take it off the heat. (at this point you now have a honey substitute!)

Let this cool and put into storage jars or containers.

Over the next few month (yes months!) this will crystallize.. make sure to check on it time to time to just brake it up.
Or you can just cheat and keep cooking on low till it crystallizes...But it does lose a little of its yummyness. But it is still sugar!!

And there you have it home grown sugar!! A renewable source of a very important staple!

Now it is just like your store bought sugar, but because it is all natural it does not caramelize like cane sugar does.

Feb 4, 2013

CNBC's Big Brother, Big Business

This is a full documentary but it is in a playlist format so it should roll into each part automatically. I could not find the full non stop version.

In "Big Brother, Big Business", CNBC takes a look at the companies
behind the powerful business of personal information and the people
whose lives are effected by it, including: a woman who lost her job due
to mistaken identity; a man whose cell phone records were stolen by his
former employer; a woman whose personal information was stolen from a
company she had never heard of; a man who discovered his rental car
company was tracking his every move.
The documentary also looks at how the FBI, the Border Patrol, police
departments and schools are using biometric technologies to establish
identity as well as an inside peeks at an AOL division that works solely
to satisfy the requests of law enforcement for information about AOL's
members.

Feb 3, 2013

Its another Sunday! And I have not done one of these in sometime.
Totally digging is my way of saying thanks for linking back to my page. Check them out!

So I have missed so many wonderful people that have shared my pages and reposted them on pinterest and facebook and twitter.. and many who have links to my blog on their's. If I have missed you I am sorry. But at some point I will catch up on these. So for today I will do a few.

Feb 2, 2013

It has been a crazy week...no blogging...hot local politics happening were I am at, and I am a very active person...so it has been crazy and exciting... not to mention trying to get garden plans going and end of year crap at the office....ugggggg.

I have a half dozen posts started and none finished! Which also means that I have a half a dozen prepping things started that are not finished because I really do blog about what ever I am working on.

But I keep getting interrupted by all the crap that is happening around us. Storms, killings, economy, it all really seems to be getting so urgent. The government is out of control, the people are out of control. And then there is me....were do I stand in all this. Where do you stand in all of this? What if anything can we do to stop the madness. I can sit here screaming a c-span, complain on facebook or go out and make a little bit of a difference in my area and hope it spreads. I do this by my involvement in politics....but I have also been trying to get people to prep.

As preppers, many of us are guarded about our prepping because we do not want the masses at our doors if something happens. BUT the more people that prep around you the safer you will be.BUT HOW???

First idea was a fail..

I first tried to get people excited about coupons and how to buy larger amounts when you can get a deal. I though the idea of saving money would get them rolling....but couponing and shopping for deals is a lot of work and they all lost interest fast.

Second idea may just be working

My inspiration is the local politician I am supporting. He is not a prepper, degrees up the ying yang. And always trying to get the people of my city to be sustainable. Solar power, gardens, urban chickens, barter and trade, recycle, re purpose... this is the way he lives (keep in mind this is an Ivy league grad who has worked for the government). The more people that do theses things the safer you will be. Very simple.

Saying I am a prepper and you need to get with it or you will not survive is just to doom and gloom for many. But what if you tried saying the price of food is getting costly...if you grow tomato's I will grow cucumbers and trade with you. It is a small thing, very little pressure and they are more likely to plant a few other things.

Make sure to swing by check out their gardens or in these winter months help them get their seeds started...I am doing the winter sowing...no real work in that and I have two others that are trying it....(because they want there kids to eat better...hey what ever angle works right).

And if we can get Joe to grow peppers we can trade with him. This is a simple way to start a prepper community without people realizing that they are doing that. And it is not as overwhelming as saying you need a 100 cans of this and 200 gallons of water and 300 rolls of toilet paper.

Every spring and fall I help do a community BBQ's. Education in small steps, in larger groups helps to. We have had a recycle magician (actually he the head of the recycling department at the local university) BUT he is amazing and makes re purpose and recycling fun for all. We had another university worker come in and teach fire starting and other survival skills. At other events in my area they teach canoeing and plant identification. ALL BEGINNER prepping skills. And if you contact local schools and organizations you may just find a teacher willing to do a fun presentation to your community for free.

This year I will be teaching local weeds for eating and medicine.

Added note: we even have a new trade group the seniors of my city started. They trade skills for skills or products...plumbing for painting, electrical for garden food ect. They started it to stretch there budgets and it took off.

I know all this seems like a waste of time, but I truly think that everyone is a bit of a prepper, we are just in a more advanced level than them.

We have to use what is happening around us to get people interested. EX: Florida...people there are preppers to some extent for hurricanes, areas with tornado's are ready for that. I have a chemical plant near me and used that to teach many in my community how to make a safe room if a spill happens. I know what doors I can knock on and be safe if a spill happens. ( which no big ones have in all these years but better to be preppered)

Well now I am rambling... share with people get them started small and that may make all the difference in times of crisis.

The song I have to use for this post is..."Join Together" - The Who!!!